


Muse

by SangriaKisses



Series: Have we Met Before? [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 13:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21458557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SangriaKisses/pseuds/SangriaKisses
Summary: Sai knew that there was something so familiar about her.  It was as though he'd met those sky blue eyes many times before. And yet, standing here in a gallery of leaves and flowers it was like meeting again for the first time.
Relationships: Sai & Yamanaka Ino, Sai/Yamanaka Ino
Series: Have we Met Before? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1546924
Kudos: 30





	Muse

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I had written this then found out it was a prompt for SaiIno week in January so I was going to wait but I've given so much love to the other members of Team 10 that these two needed some love too. I might just add another chapter for SaiIno week. Either way, I hope that you enjoy it! 
> 
> Some Notes:  
It's an AU, modern setting. Ino is going to school to become a psychiatrist. Sai is still an artist. 
> 
> Some soulmate ish themes, you'll see.
> 
> Don't get too caught up in the details of it. Just enjoy some fluff :D

Sai walked through the open space checking to make sure that everything was in its proper place as it had been 40 minutes ago. He was nervous but after years of mini-shows at smaller venues, he was finally being featured at a well-known art gallery. This art collection was his most personal one to date but also his favorite. He was nervous to share it with the world but it needed to be seen. All his close friends and instructors heaped praises on him, congratulating him for the accomplishment at such a young age. They told him that it was just the start of bigger and better things. And yet, something felt like it was missing. His brother’s loss was definitely felt but there was something else, someone else, that he felt like should be sharing in his success. His small group of friends would be there and he was thankful for their presence but something made him feel restless and unable to celebrate as much as he should. He tried to shake off the feeling and focus on the work at hand. The caterers and florist would be arriving soon and he wanted to be present and show himself as a true professional artist. 

  
  


“Are you sure you don’t want to come tonight?” Sakura asked for the 10th time. “All of our friends will be there. It will also be a great way for you to mingle and meet new people.” She was worried about her childhood friend. She had been mostly staying to herself and not wanting to go out and socialize like she used to once returning home. 

“I have a pretty big order to fill then studying.”

“Who would have thought that Yamanaka Ino would have turned into such a nerd.” She teased her. 

“Oh hush, this doctoral program is no joke.”

“Fine, fine, but you can’t avoid people forever, next time okay?” She asked hopefully.

Ino worried her bottom lip. She knew that Sakura was concerned for her. “Okay, I promise.”

Ino sighed placing the last bucket of flowers in the truck. Her mother had asked her last minute to help with this event. Thankfully, she had little to no social life so it wasn’t as though she was missing out on anything. Her coworker had already gone ahead to start setting up and she was coming with the last few bouquets. The arrangements were gorgeous, apparently, the client himself was an artist and helped design them. She was hoping that she could meet him. 

The gallery was in a nice area of downtown, a modern space with large windows. When she walked in she was hit by a flood of colors and smells that reminded her of walking through a forest. It was absolutely ethereal and she felt like she had wandered into another world. The roof was covered in leaves and lights.

“Hey, boss! Pretty amazing huh?”

Ino nodded greeting her coworker. “Yes, it’s incredible. How’s it going over here?”

“Good, I’ve got most of it set up, did you need help with the last few arrangements?”

“Just help me bring them in and I’ve got the rest.”

“You’ve got it.” As much as she wanted to wander through she focused her thoughts on the setup and began arranging what was left according to the schematic that he’d left the shop.  
  


“This looks incredible, thank you.” Ino smiled at the voice taking a step back proud of her work. 

“Thank you but I just brought the flowers, it takes a creative mind to come up with something like this.” She looked up and froze meeting dark eyes. He was so handsome and she felt her face blush brightly. He looked at her with a smile before it dropped and his eyes studied her curiously.

“Have we met?” She asked peering back at him, something about him seemed so familiar but she was sure that she would have remembered him. It was strange and she could feel her hands shaking.

He shook his head, but even he didn't seem too sure. “No, uhm at least I don’t believe so. I’m uh Sai, it's my gallery opening tonight.”

“Oh! It’s nice to meet you, I’m Ino! Seriously, it looks incredible in here. The flowers, plants and lights accent your work perfectly.”

He took her outstretched hand in his and shook it politely. His hand lingered a little longer against hers, her smaller ones fitting perfectly in his own. “Thank you, Ino.” He said her name with such sweetness that it made her heart flutter.

“Let me help you with the rest.” She was about to protest but he took the plant from her hands and placed it in the right spot. She smiled next to him as they put together the finishing touches.

She couldn’t help but be talkative and friendly, it was in her nature and she felt comfortable with him despite having just met. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind her chatter and was willing to converse with her. He was funny, a little blunt and shy but he was kind and complimented even the littlest things that she did and implemented any idea she had. If she wasn’t so sure, she would have sworn that she’d met him before. There was something that seemed so familiar in how he smiled at her. 

They both took a step back looking at their hard work in its entirety. He insisted on walking her hand in hand through the space and it felt terribly romantic and almost like they’d done this many times before. Sai had created a forest indoors. Every inch was covered in greens or florals. His work blended into the ambiance rather than standing out. 

“You did an amazing job Beautiful.” He told her affectionately her hand still safely enclosed in his. She blushed brightly at the compliment and shook her head. 

“I was happy to bring your vision to life.” She assured him shaking her shoulders. For some reason, he felt like he knew that she would do this often when she got embarrassed. 

Sai got a thoughtful look on his face looking at her with the same question in his eyes. “Ino...do you mind if I show you something?”

“Oh, sure!” She replied thankful to have even a few more moments with him. 

They walked towards the back of the gallery into a small corridor.

“My studio is back here.” He explained opening up a door. She stood there shocked and confused.

“Do these flowers mean anything to you?” She nodded slowly. On every wall were pictures he’d drawn or painted of the same familiar flower. 

“Yes, they are called Purple Bush Clovers, my mom used to plant them in her garden. Our backyard is covered in them.” She remembered playing amongst them as a child. Her father told her that it was their family’s flower and it meant positive love.

He nodded and drew her into the space. “When my brother died, I stopped painting in color. The world seemed very bland without him. I almost gave up painting completely. Then one day I had this dream. I was drowning and then I saw this light. It morphed into a hand and this beautiful girl was standing there surrounded by light and these purple flowers, she pulled me out. She told me to go with her and that other people were waiting for me. After that, I started painting in color again. I started to paint this flower over and over. Not only that, I started to draw and paint her over and over again.” He opened up a sketchbook and showed her pages and pages of her. Some were more detailed than others but no one could deny that it was her.

Her eyes were wide and confused. “How?”

Sai took her hands in his. “I don’t know. I kept dreaming of you, I kept seeing you in my dreams and so I started to draw you. I thought that I had just imagined you. That it was impossible that someone so kind and beautiful existed. Then, I saw you here today like something out of my dreams.” She carefully reached up and brushed his hair back staring into his fathomless eyes. There was something so familiar about how he looked at her so softly and sweetly. 

“When I saw you, you seemed so familiar, it was like coming home. I don’t know Sai...maybe we met before, somewhere in a land hidden in the leaves.” It seemed impossible and unlikely and yet seemed so right. It was too much of a coincidence. She’d been drawn back to this town. She had other options and schools but something was calling her back home. Her feelings of restlessness and loneliness seemed to vanish with him standing there. 

He kissed her forehead softly, that feeling of familiarity and home wrapping around him. “I’d like you to stay tonight as my guest. Please, I’ve been dreaming about you for so long and having you here, well it seems like that missing piece is found.” He asked her hopefully. Even if she was to reject him he’d easily follow her to the ends of the Earth.

She nodded stepping into his arms before they enclosed tightly around her. “I’d like that Sai.” She couldn’t help the tears appearing in her eyes. “I’ve missed you.” It was strange to say to someone that she had just technically met. But, there was a very real part of her that missed this familiar artist. 

He rested his head atop hers, clutching her tightly into him his own heart echoing her sentiments. “I missed you too Beautiful.” 

She returned hours later after going home to get ready. She’d woven fresh flowers into her hair. She wanted to stand proudly next to him while he introduced his art to the world. He greeted her happy once she returned, relieved to see that she was indeed real and it wasn’t another one of his dreams. 

“Ino, I wanted to show you something before it was revealed to the guests, it's the masterpiece of my collection tonight.”

Sai took her hand in his and led them towards the front and center of the room. 

“It was one of my first dreams of you.” He explained as she stood there shell shocked. He placed the painting after she had left. “It was our wedding. I tried to capture how beautiful you looked at that moment.” Her eyes couldn’t help but water seeing herself reflected in that painting. She was wearing a brightly colored, flower printed kimono rather than a traditional white one. Surrounding her were thousands of painted flowers that he then framed with real ones. She looked radiant and happy and she could tell that he’d painted it with so much love and attention.

“I kept that image of you in my head, of you smiling so brightly, so happy and ready to be married to me. That picture of you helped keep me going on even the most difficult days. I know that it’s completely crazy and probably impossible but I know you. We’ve lived a life together before this, a crazy, dramatic but amazing one. You’ve been my muse in this lifetime but also every one before.” 

Ino couldn't help but throw her arms around him. “Truthfully, I've felt a little lost recently. Like something was missing despite achieving all these goals and all the different things I'd set out to do. Today though, being here with you, working together, just being together. It made me happier than I've been in a long time. I’d like to see where this could go and imagine what we were.”

He very softly and gently kissed her and while it was warm and familiar it was unlike anything he’d felt before. It was as though the missing pieces of his heart were found. “I’d like that too.” 

  
  


“What are you doing here?” Ino turned and saw her pink-haired friend staring at her confused. 

“What are _ you _doing here?”

Sakura couldn’t help but look at her strangely. “It’s my friend Sai’s gallery opening. This is what I wanted you to come to tonight.”

Ino looked at her surprised, one way or another she was destined to meet Sai. “Seriously?”

“Yes, back to my original question.”

“The flower order I was filling was for him. We met and talked and he asked me to stay.” She explained.

“Oh…,” Sakura replied with a grin.

“Stop it!” Ino blushed brightly.

Sakura just ignored her embarrassment. “Okay, okay. You know I always thought that you two would get along. I was using tonight as a way to get you to meet.”

“Can’t fight fate I guess.” Ino smiled looking over towards where he was greeting various guests. He seemed to sense her looking at him and sent her a smile. He wanted to stay glued to her side all evening lest he wake up from this dream, but she promised that she’d still be there at the end of the night. 

“It’s not like you to fall head over heels for someone so fast.” Sakura thought out loud. 

“I don’t know, it’s different with him. Have you ever met someone and felt like you’ve known them before? Like for some reason, it’s like you’re meeting again for the second time.”

Sakura smiled in understanding. “Yes, it’s how I felt about Sasuke.”

Ino nodded, her friend had long told her that she felt like she’d met her boyfriend before in some other place or time. “It’s like that. It’s just like meeting him again in this timeline. It's new but familiar all the same.” Sakura just smiled happily for her friend. She deserved all the happiness and love this world had to offer. 

Once all the praises were heaped and congratulations were given Sai and Ino laid in the center of the gallery staring up at the leaf and lights covered roof, their hands entwined between them. 

“I’m proud of you Sai.” She told him sweetly shifting on her side to look at him.

“Thank you Beautiful. It was an amazing night and I‘m so happy that you were able to share it with me. I think that my painting of you is what convinced them to take a chance on me.” He replied gently playing with her loose strands of hair. He’d dreamed a million times of what it would be like to actually run his hands through her hair and it was far better than he could have imagined. 

“It’s so strange but being with you feels so natural like we’ve done this so many times before.”

He kissed her gently drawing her closer. “Perhaps it was just fate, we were meant to meet again in this lifetime and I promise you, no matter what, we’ll meet again a million times more.”

**Flashback**

_"Sai? Do you believe in soulmates?" Ino asked as they laid beneath the stars, shifting closer to him to keep warm. He placed an affectionate kiss on her head._

_He paused thinking about the question. He had read about the concept in his books before. "I don't know. Before you, I doubt that I would have ever believed in something so impossible but you loving me, well that's changed everything that I'd ever believed in." She smiled sweetly at him her blue eyes sparkling. She met him in a kiss wanting to use every moment she could to remind him just how much she loved him. _

_While the war had ended years ago it still left them with scars and feelings of loss. It pained her to believe that she had only a finite amount of time with her Love._

_Her eyes stared up at the shroud of leaves and the stars twinkling between them. "I'd like to believe it. I'd want to believe that even after we pass in this life your soulmate finds their way to you in another." He smiled at the idea, wanting to believe that they had a million shared lifetimes and a million more to be had. _

_"Well, when that day comes, I can promise you that I will find you again. We will always find our way together." They met in a kiss, a shared promise that no matter where, what universe, or space and time they'd always meet under the leaves. _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope that you enjoyed it! I have to still write their story for my "Invidia" series so look out for that. :D  
I'm going to probably turn this into a series with a story for Chouji and Shika. 
> 
> *Till the next one!


End file.
